Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

A photo of three ancient busts of philosophers, including Socrates.

Ending the Semester

June 15, 2026 / / 0 Comments

After a nearly 11 year absence, I jumped back into the classroom in the spring 2026 semester. I taught the honors section of Intro to Philosophy at the University of Iowa, spending hours reworking my syllabus and retooling the course for what, at least in my mind, students might find more useful in 2026 than they did in 2015.

A few readers probably noticed this, given that I had to take a bit more time off from writing than usual. And on that note, I’ll thank regular readers for their patience. I know that post frequency moved a little closer to 3-4 posts per month rather than the usual 5 or 6.

Here are a few thoughts on how it went.

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A representation of the number 8 made out with colored M&M candies in red, brown, yellow, green, orange, and blue.

Eight Years of Blogging!

June 1, 2026 / / 0 Comments

It’s time again for one of my favorite parts of blogging – writing the annual anniversary post! So, what’s been going on in the blogging world in the last year, and how has it impacted or changed what we’re seeing on the blog?

Two things stand out on my end: first, as I’ve mentioned, I taught a section of Intro to Philosophy at the University of Iowa last semester. That took up a lot of my time, but I got a lot of enjoyment out of the class. Teaching was the topic of last week’s post, so check it out if you missed it.

Second, I’m still seeing clients in my philosophical counseling practice. While this hasn’t impacted the time I’m able to spend on blogging, I suspect my experiences with working with clients has had some level of (subconscious?) influence over my choice of topics. Clients come to me with interesting and thorny challenges, and it has been a rewarding experience.

But let’s take a moment to look at the data.

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A visual representation of two feet and lower legs, with the right ankle highlighted in a warm orange tone to represent an injury.

A Foot Injury

May 25, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Seeking out a mid-morning snack, I descended the stairs with my laptop opened and propped on my right hand. I was watching a YouTube video as I worked the stairs. As I reached the third step, I stretched my right foot a bit too far, overstepping the fourth and landing badly on the fifth.

Uh-oh.

Had I landed cleanly, it would’ve been no problem at all. In fact, I’ve done that a dozen or more times with no discernible issue. But this time, my luck ran out. My right foot turned inward as I landed, tucking awkwardly into the wooden step on our 100 year old American Foursquare home.

As I brought my weight down on the foot, I knew right away something had gone wrong. My body stumbled forward, and I miraculously managed to brace my body and keep the laptop in my right hand. This prevented both my body and my laptop from tumbling two steps below onto the landing at the middle of the staircase.

But my right foot wasn’t so lucky. It took no more than a couple of seconds before I felt a pain radiating through the foot. Something had gone wrong.

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